Monday, February 20, 2012

1 Month Down!

I hope everyone has had a great week! I know I sure have. I miss all of you a ton but I’m starting to get used to it out here. I can't believe I’ve already been gone a month. it doesn’t seem that long... but it does seem that long at the same time. It's weird. I can't explain it. ha-ha. I’m sure anyone who has served a mission knows exactly what I’m saying. The Days feel like weeks. The Weeks feel like days.

Things have been going a lot better in the Stockport area. Things are really picking up. There is only one ward here and so we have 4 missionaries serving in the same ward boundaries. The other elders live on the other side of the town though so we don’t see them a lot. The members love the missionaries. We always have people willing to have us over for dinner which I’m SO grateful for. I'm getting REAL sick of peanut butter are jelly sandwiches. Shopping here is hard because everything is so much more expensive. You really have to be careful with your money.

Since I’ve been out here I’ve met some amazing people. I’ve also met some not so amazing people. haha. There will always be a few people each day that will yell at us or start bible bashing against us. We’ve been told to just wish those people a nice day. ahah it's so much harder to actually do it. I’ve had to work on it

The amazing people I've met make the rude people disappear in your mind real quick though. It's so amazing. I’ve only been in the field a week and half and I've already seen miracles.

One of those miracles names is Gerald Dwyer. I told you a bit about him in my last letter. Earlier this week he told us he no longer wanted to be baptized. He said one of his friends told him that Mormons are too persistent and that we were going to brain wash him. We told him that it wasn't true. He said he still wanted to go to church but he wouldn't be baptized. It almost killed me to hear him say that.

We met with him at a member’s home a few days later. We felt really strongly that we should teach him about the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We really focused on the gift of the Holy Ghost so he could see what baptism could really do for him. We each shared personal times in each of our lives when we were grateful to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. The spirit was so strong there. We asked him what he thought about all of it. What he said is legendary. haha " I think i need to join the Mormon church". BOOM! haha. It was amazing. He's been reading from the book of Mormon every day and is starting to gain a strong testimony

Last week I mentioned about the kid who showed up to church, Herman. We taught him this week as well. He also committed to be baptized. Unfortunately he's 19 which is Young Single Adult age and all YSA age people are covered by the assistants to the president. We told him that someone else would be teaching him on his next visit and he didn't like that very much. He said “I feel like god lead me to you two!" So me and elder Corbin we'll be going on splits with the assistants and one pair will go teach Herman to introduce him to one of the assistants. I'm secretly hoping he'll be persistent and only want us to teach him :) haha.

Another miracle happened just last night! We met a young man on the bus named Danny. We talked a bit on the bus and we both got off at the same stop. He agreed to sit down with us for a bit and we ended up teaching a full restoration lesson on the spot. He was so prepared to hear us. He said that he had just started praying again the week before. The spirit was very strong, especially when we recited Joseph Smiths first vision. I don't think anything brings the spirit quicker or stronger than using Josephs own words from the first vision. It's Amazing. Danny also agreed to baptism. We set up a return appointment and walked with him for a bit. He said he was going to meet a friend. Eventually we turned a different direction to go to another appointment we had.

Later that night during call-ins the other elders in Stockport asked us if we taught a young man an on the spot restoration lesson. We told him that we had. They told us that they met a young man named Alex at the bus stop and taught him a full restoration lesson on the spot as well. They also committed him to baptism too. Alex said that he was just waiting for his friend at the bus stop. Right after he said that Alex’s fiend walked up to them with a book of Mormon in his hand. It was Danny!!! They both looked at each other and were like "no way". They had been planning to meet up but were both taught by missionaries at the exact same time. It blew my mind when i heard that.....amazing!

Things are going really well for me out here. I've still got so much to learn but I’m doing my best. I’ve learned more in this past month than I have my entire life! I love and miss you all very much!